Tag: Doctors

  • YouTube will let doctors apply to be labeled as ‘certified’ to avoid misinformation

    YouTube will let doctors apply to be labeled as ‘certified’ to avoid misinformation

    In an attempt to decrease inaccurate information on the platform, YouTube said Thursday that doctors and other health care providers can apply to have their channels certified. The change will allow viewers to more easily access videos containing “high-quality health information,” YouTube said.

    “This is a big step towards helping people more easily find and connect with content that comes from the extraordinary community of healthcare professionals on YouTube,” it added.

    In addition to physicians and nurses, those in the mental health field and those who offer healthcare information may also apply for the YouTube verification that makes their videos visible to users. “This new step will allow us to expand to include high-quality information from a wider group of healthcare channels,” the company said.

    The National Academy of Medicine estimates that 90 per cent of Americans use social media to look up health-related information.

    Last year, YouTube came under fire for displaying videos that decried the Covid-19 vaccine or went against the World Health Organization’s or the CDC’s recommendations for good health.

    In September 2021, it enacted a prohibition on vaccine-related misinformation in response.

    Additionally, a limited programme was introduced that permitted movies produced by public health departments, hospitals, and governments, among other organisations, to carry labels indicating their authority to consumers.

    This programme is currently being expanded.

    Healthcare providers need to follow best practises for disseminating science-based health information and have an active YouTube channel in order to access the programme, according to the business.

    The San Bruno, California-based company YouTube claims two billion active monthly users.

  • Pervaiz Elahi lifts ban on ad hoc appointments of doctors in Punjab

    Pervaiz Elahi lifts ban on ad hoc appointments of doctors in Punjab

    Chief Minister (CM) Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has on Tuesday lifted a ban on ad-hoc appointments of doctors and nurses, reports The Nation.

    After the provincial Health Department forwarded a summary to the CM, the government allowed ad hoc appointment of doctors and paramedics to meet the severe shortage of health officials in public health facilities across Punjab.

    In a meeting chaired by Elahi, it was decided to extend the Health Card programme in an improved manner.

    According to the notification, both the health departments – Specialized Healthcare and Primary Health – are allowed to fill the vacant posts of doctors and paramedics on an impromptu basis.

    While the country continues to grapple with the ongoing devastation caused by floods, waterborne dengue infection has broken out in all four provinces, with panic and fear spreading among the public. According to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare secretary, 2,278 confirmed dengue cases and four deaths had so far been reported in the province this year.

  • ‘No restriction on Pakistani doctors and students to work, train in US’: PMC clarifies

    ‘No restriction on Pakistani doctors and students to work, train in US’: PMC clarifies

    The Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) has denied media reports claiming doctors who attended medical schools in Pakistan might not be permitted to practice in the United States (US) after January 2024.

    “Unfortunately over the last few days a malicious and false campaign in the media and social media has been initiated falsely claiming that PMC has failed to meet the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) criteria while referring to the decision of the US medical regulators requiring that foreign doctors entering the US in 2024 onward would be those graduating from or licensed by regulatory authorities recognised by WFME,” says the PMC statement.

    “Currently all Pakistani doctors and graduates are able to work and train in the USA without any hindrance. PMC has been working in close coordination with the US regulatory authorities including ECFMG and the Federal State Medical Boards (FSMB) ensuring that there is no hindrance in Pakistani doctors and medical graduates being recognized in the USA. In addition to ECFMG and FSMB, the Association of Physicians of Pakistani-descent of North American (APPNA) are also supporting PMC’s recognition by WFME as evidenced by their recent communications with the Honourable Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Minister for Health,” it added.

    “PMC has initiated the recognition process for WFME after exhaustive preparations and fulfilling all requirements over the last 18 months. WFME will be over the next 6 to 12 months evaluating the PMC and its recognized medical colleges to complete the recognition process, on completion of which Pakistan will be able to obtain the WFME recognition in 2023, well before the 2024 deadline. The WFME process is a phase wise process of evaluation which culminates in a physical assessment expected during the first half of 2023.”

    Media reports claimed that Pakistan has until January 2024 to finish the accreditation process and obtain recognition for its medical programmes, but officials with the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) are concerned that Pakistan may miss the deadline.

    It is being reported that the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) is concerned that Pakistan may miss the deadline. Though the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PMDC) initiated the process, it was eventually replaced by the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC) through a presidential ordinance.

    The PMC Act does not meet the criteria to get recognition from the WFME. However, as per the PMC, it has “formally initiated the application process for the recognition”. The entire process, including the on-site visit by the WFME, is expected to take 12 to 15 months.

    “It is not going to be easy to get accreditation by 2024 as there is a long list of conditions which include quality of education, criteria for inspections of colleges, rules, faculty and many other things,” PMA Secretary General Dr Qaiser Sajjad told Dawn.

  • President Alvi takes notice of prescribing ‘unnecessary medications’

    President Alvi takes notice of prescribing ‘unnecessary medications’

    President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi has reportedly taken notice of the unnecessary sale of medicines.

    He asked about the priority of doctors, whether it was the sale of medicines or the health of their patients. 

    Vice-Chancellor of Health Services Academy Dr Shehzad Ali Khan said that the president shared a prescription on which a total of 21 medicines were written.

    Drug Regulatory Authority Of Pakistan (DRAP) officials also believe that it has been observed how in a single prescription, an average of 25 to 30 medicines are prescribed. President Alvi has asked for a plan to control the unnecessary sale of medicines by October 21.

  • A Punjabi female doctor faces harassment at Karachi hospital

    A Punjabi female doctor faces harassment at Karachi hospital

    A senior female doctor who works at a major public sector hospital in Karachi says that she is being harassed and blackmailed for the last several months on gender and ethnic grounds and being forced to quit her job.

    The doctor is in-charge of the hospital’s gastroenterology and hepatology ward. She claims she is the only female gastroenterologist working at any public sector hospital in Pakistan.

    “I’m in charge of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Ward at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and the only female gastroenterologist working at any public sector hospital in entire Pakistan. I have been harassed and blackmailed for the last several months on the basis of my gender and ethnicity,” Dr Nazish Butt told Waqar Bhatti of The News.

    She showed several messages sent to her, accusing her of being a “non-Sindhi” and “a draconian lady”, who is not allowing ‘natives’ to work at the hospital. She said she was constantly receiving calls from unknown numbers.

    “First of all, I’m a Pakistani citizen who was born in Karachi. I have studied in this city and graduated from the Sindh Medical College. I even married a person who is Sindhi-speaking, but still, some people, including some staff members [of the hospital], are harassing me. They are doing negative propaganda against me, which has made me mentally disturbed,” the publication reported her as saying.

    “I have filed several complaints with the relevant authorities against this harassment and blackmailing. but now I want to make my ordeal public and urge the high authorities to take notice of this hooliganism. They call me a Punjabi woman, hurl abuses at me, put baseless posts on Facebook, and then send it to me and my colleagues on WhatsApp. This should end now,” she added.

    Dr Butt stated that she was bringing this issue to the notice of the newly-appointed executive director at the JPMC, Dr Shahid Rasool. She also urged provincial health minister Dr Azra Pechuho to take notice of this harassment.

    According to a recent study, Pakistan lacks trained and qualified female gastroenterologists even though more than 80% of students who graduate from medical colleges are women.

  • Bahawal Victoria Hospital bans jeans, bangles, rings in hospital premises

     Newly hired medical superintendent of the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) Dr Muhammad Younus Warraich has banned jeans in the hospital and made dupatta or scarf mandatory for the women medical officers (WMOs) and paramedics, Majeed Gill reported for Dawn.

     The new dress code has been introduced reportedly by the new head of the hospital to ‘preach Islam and reform the society’.

    A notification signed by Mr Warraich, titled as, DRESS CODE RULES IN B.V. HOSPITAL BAHAWALPUR PREMISES consisted of two categories of ‘ALLOWED’ and ‘NOT ALLOWED’.

    The letter gives the list of the dresses, which are not permitted in the hospital. It includes “jeans/tights (but only with knee-length shirt), high-up trousers/capri above ankle, tight fitted clothes, see-through clothes, heavy/tacky bangles or rings, sleeveless/half sleeves clothes, heavy make-up (especially dark lipsticks), untied long hair, high heels (making loud sounds and turning heads of everyone), extreme hairstyles (especially high buns like the hump of camels), low neckline (front and back), nail paint on long nails, slippers and anklets (Pazaib)”.

    The “ALLOWED” category includes, “shalwar kameez or trousers with long shirts, dupatta/scarf, minimal jewelry like studs/tops, simple ring, or a chain with locket, sleeves below the elbow, lab coat (compulsory in hospital premises), maternity gowns/suitable dresses (during antenatal period) and scrubs with long sleeves that can be folded for females”.

    It is notable that the code looks to be mostly women-centric.

    Talking to Dawn, Mr Warraich confirmed that lab coats and maternity gowns during operations are now necessary on the hospital premises along with dupatta/scarf with minimum jewellery for women medical officers. Explaining the move, he said the step had been taken to preach Islam, promote religious values and reform society.

  • Coin mistakenly stuck in nose surgically removed after five decades

    Coin mistakenly stuck in nose surgically removed after five decades

    A Russian man had mistakenly put a coin in his nose when he was only six years old. It was surgically removed from his nose when he complained of a breathing problem at the age of 59.

    Doctors in Russia said they recently faced a unique case when the patient told them he was unable to breathe through his right nostril for the past several months.

    CT scan of the patient showed his nose was blocked by some object. Following an endoscopy, doctors were surprised to discover that a coin was stuck in the man’s nose.

    When they discussed it with the patient, he remembered how he had mistakenly put the coin in his nose when he was six and did not tell anyone about it because he was afraid of his strict mother.

  • Employment opportunities for Pakistani doctors, nurses and paramedics in Kuwait under new agreement

    Kuwait has signed a government-to-government bilateral framework agreement with Pakistan to hire its healthcare professionals on a regular basis, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari has said.

    “We [have] signed an agreement with the government of Kuwait to send an increased number of Pakistani doctors, nurses and paramedics to work there,” Bukhari tweeted.

    He also expressed gratitude to the government of Kuwait for recruiting Pakistani medical professionals on a priority basis. “I thank our Kuwaiti brothers for preferring Pakistani healthcare professionals. This is a big step towards bringing our two great countries further closer,” the SAPM said.

    He also shared the news release of Pakistan’s Embassy in Kuwait, which confirmed the development.

    According to the release, the agreement was signed by Kuwaiti Undersecretary Ministry of Health Dr Mustafa Ridha and Pakistani Ambassador Syed Sajjad Haider on behalf of Overseas Employment Corporation (OEC) at the Ministry of Health of Kuwait.

    The cooperation agreement would institutionalise the recruitment of healthcare professionals from Pakistan for Kuwait on a regular basis as per the requirements of Kuwait’s Ministry of Health.

    Meanwhile, Kuwait’s International Health Relations Department Director Dr Rehab Al Watyan was quoted by Kuwait’s state news agency as saying that the agreement would enhance cooperation between the medical community of Pakistan and Kuwait and “would provide an opportunity to benefit from their experiences in dealing with disasters and epidemics, and to address the COVID-19 epidemic”.

  • ‘There is no corona’: Mob attacks Karachi hospital as health workers remain at risk amid rising fatalities

    ‘There is no corona’: Mob attacks Karachi hospital as health workers remain at risk amid rising fatalities

    In yet another incident of a hospital being ransacked by survivors of a deceased coronavirus patient, a mob on Friday night attacked Civil Hospital Karachi while also harassing and attempting to assault the medical staff on duty.

    According to the hospital’s management, at least 70 people entered the hospital and took the body of the deceased from the emergency ward.

    The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Khadim Qureshi, reportedly confirmed the incident and said the police were asked to lodge an FIR [First Information Report] against those involved in the attack.

    No medical staffer were, however, injured in the attack.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Doctors are demanding security. It’s hard for them to work under this kind of situation,” Dr Qureshi said.

    Another doctor who was on duty at the time, said the incident took place at around 11 pm. He and other doctors on duty were also tortured and abused. “It’s the third time in a week, ” he claimed, alleging that the police deployed outside the hospital gate did not help the medical staff.

    While no arrests have been made as of yet and doctors have demanded deployment of Sindh Rangers for security, it is worth mentioning that it is not the first incident of its kind as hospitals across the country are being attacked every day amid the rising number of deaths due to COVID-19.

    Among other incidents being reported across the country, over a dozen people last week barged into and vandalised the isolation ward at Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) after a coronavirus patient being treated there died, officials said.

    Videos taken of the ward, where 37 coronavirus patients were being treated, after the attack showed pieces of glass, furniture and fans strewn on the floor. The glass windows of a counter were also shattered.

    Pakistan has so far reported 1,395 deaths due to the novel virus.

  • Young health workers who sacrificed their lives fighting COVID-19

    Young health workers who sacrificed their lives fighting COVID-19

    Coronavirus cases in Pakistan are on the rise and according to the latest numbers, there are 64,028 cases of COVID-19 in the country. Healthcare workers, who are fighting on the frontlines, have been badly affected by the virus.

    As per reports, until May 28, 17 medical professionals had died of COVID-19 in Pakistan out of the total 1,904 who tested positive; this figure included 299 nurses, 570 others healthcare staff and 1,035 doctors.

    This is the total data of medical staff, as far as young doctors are reported, many of these were among them who sacrificed their lives fighting against coronavirus.

    Here are a few young doctors who lost their lives because of this pandemic.

    Dr Sana Fatima

    The doctor lost her life due to coronavirus on May 29. She was admitted to Lahore General Hospital after being tested positive for Covid-19 on May 20.

    Salman Tahir

    Salman Tahir, an MBBS fourth-year student of a private medical college in Lahore, was admitted due to high fever, but due to the high viral load of the virus, he died in the ICU of a private hospital within 24 hours. Dr. Salman Tahir’s father Prof. Tahir Saleem is in charge of the pediatric ward in a private hospital while his mother Dr. Shabana is a gynecologist in a private hospital.

    Mussarat Dilbar

    Mussarat Dilbar, a nurse at the Kohat Development Authority (KDA) hospital, was tested positive for the virus a few days ago. She had been admitted to the facility but her health condition continued to worsen and on May 29, she succumbed to the virus.

    Dr Usama Riaz

    The 26-year-old was infected with the coronavirus while screening infected pilgrims who had returned from Iran and Iraq in Gilgit-Baltistan and lost his life to COVID-19 disease on March 22. He was among the first healthcare workers to succumb to the disease.

    Dr Rabia Tayyab

    26-year old Rabia Tayyab succumbed to coronavirus at Rawalpindi’s Holy Family Hospital after battling the infection for almost two weeks.

    The doctor, who hailed from Gujjar Khan, was the daughter of a renowned teacher Mohammad Tayyab. She graduated from the Quaid-e-Azam Medical College in Bahawalpur and was due to start her house job from May 1.

    Healthcare workers are risking their lives and fighting on the forefront to save us from COVID-19. We can play our part in controlling the spread of the virus by following the SOPs and precautionary measures issued by the government and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Here’s what you can do:

    • Avoid going out unnecessarily
    • Clean your hands often. Use soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand rub to disinfect them
    • Maintain a safe distance from anyone who is coughing or sneezing
    • Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth with dirty hands. Cover your nose and mouth with your bent elbow or a tissue when you cough or sneeze
    • Stay home if you feel unwell
    • If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical attention as soon as possible